Not Rickrolling: Rick Astley Is Launching His Own Beer

Although everyone loves falling for a good rickroll from time to time, this is no joke, folks. Rick Astley, the '80s pop sensation-turned inescapable Internet meme is launching his very own brand of beer. Really.

Earlier this week, the Irish Mirrorreported the 50-year-old singer recently teamed up with Copenhagen-based brewery Mikkeller to create his own beer, instantly heightening the Internet's collective rickrolling alertness and inspiring obligatory jokes like "never gonna give you hop." But in all seriousness, the living meme is a big fan of beer, and now, it looks like he's finally going to cash in on his ironic popularity by making one of his own.

"I enjoy a beer with friends and I'm hoping to sell my own brand soon," Astley said, per the report. "Mikkeller beer is quite experimental and they've been sending me various bottles to sample. Some are quite fruity -- one was a pear beer they make for a restaurant, but we've gone for a pilsner type lager. All I need now is a name for it."

Considering the bait and switch nature of rickrolling and, of course, the general awfulness of the Internet sometimes, it's easy to assume the Rick Astley beer story, which just seems way too good to be true, is a cruel joke. Fortunately, it's not. When reached via email on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Mikkeller confirmed Astley is indeed working with the brewery to develop a signature beer.

"There's not a whole lot to report other than what's already out; we did a test brew in Belgium together with Rick, and now we're planning the next steps: Dialing in the final recipe, looking at timelines for release events and so on," Mikkeller's Events & Communications Manager, Mixen Lindberg, said. "That's really all I have at the moment."

Unfortunately, that's all the brewery would say for now, but you can find some additional details right here.

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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and just loves the Internet. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.